Oh goodness...

Rating: 5/10 (1 July 2003)

*Some Spoilers* After seeing this movie, I felt betrayed by all the advertisements -"Scary as Hell" being the first one that came to mind. It's not scary, it is a wee bit suspenseful and there are a few "boo" scares here and there. The actors are all somewhat bland and one-dimensional, and the transitions each one makes (tough to emotional, or weak to strong) were poorly handled and unlikely. Frank the father was the best character by far, followed by Major West. Selena wasn't bad either. Anyway, this movie is essentially a rip off of every other zombie movie I have ever seen. In particular "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead". The whole evil hidden military agenda was straight from Day, as well as the idea of taking a zombie prisoner. The opening empty streets with newspapers giving Jim his clues was also directly lifted. The refueling station scene was very reminiscent of Dawn, I must say, especially with the child attacking the lead character in the office ... hmm. This movie is also addled by too much artsy cinematography of scenic hillsides and horses, etc. A lot of the films action is based on stupid mistakes as well. Soldiers forgetting how to fight, people not taking guns, people hiding and waiting to get killed, people walking into dark rooms by themselves... silly clichÃ© stuff. However, despite the plethora downfalls I was still somewhat amused. It should have been better, and it was frustrating to watch, but it was a decent movie. It was better than "The Italian Job" anyway, the movie I had seen a few weeks prior. 2.5/5 stars.